Age of Empires Online Goes Offline

It starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane, and Lenny Bruce is
not afraid, and now the Age
of Empires Blog announces the end of the world as we know it, as Age of
Empires Online has closed its doors for good ending the run for this MMO
version of the strategy series (thanks
Eurogamer). Here's word:

AOEO launched in August of 2011, with its
first two civilizations, the Greeks and Egyptians. Over the years, we added the
Persians, the Celts, the Babylonians and the Norse. We also added new modes like
the Defense of Crete and Skirmish, to provide for multiple styles of play. In
the summer of 2012 we even changed the basic model of the game itself, allowing
players to earn Empire Points and play their way to owning more civilizations
and vanity items, and adding shifting Alliances to give high-level Empires more
reasons to make wars upon each other.

None of this would have been possible, of course, without our friends and
partners at Robot Entertainment and Gas Powered Games. They were the architects
of the ancient world where we fought and played together. We were ambitious and
risky with AOEO in a number of respects; some of these experiments worked, and
some did not. As the saying goes, I do think that we ended up among the stars,
most of the time.

The most thanks, though, belong to you, the players of the game. It has been a
pleasure and an honor serving you all. Thank you for the time you have spent
with us, exploring all these little worlds together and conquering them for the
glory of your Alliance and your Empire. Thank you especially for the times you
spent with each other, in PVP matches, in co-op quests, and in the forums and
the rest of the internet. Thank you for playing.